


"Something's not quite right. But I don't know how to tell you."

by GoldenWyvern



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dragons, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Relationships to be determined, Tags May Change, This story is gonna be confusing as heck, i may change it - Freeform, pre-ns4, summary sucks, we'll see where it goes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:28:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28085475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenWyvern/pseuds/GoldenWyvern
Summary: There was no more team. It was his own fault, he supposed. If only he had been stronger, maybe he could've saved Zane. Maybe there would still be a team. But no, they fell apart. Just like he, himself, was falling apart. Images plague his mind. Stuff that shouldn't be possible are happening. He's going insane! He can't be a ninja when he's not strong enough to face the future. He's unsure of himself but he needs his team. He needs their help and guidance. They won't abandon him forever, he can get them to come back. They can be a team again. Right?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	"Something's not quite right. But I don't know how to tell you."

Fear. A feeling Lloyd was no stranger to. There were many times Lloyd had been afraid, but none as prevalent as now. His body tremored slightly as he tried to hold in his shaky breaths. A cold sweat was running down his spine as he looked forward at the scene unfolding upon him. There he laid, encircled by his teammates, uncle, and...his father. 

They were trapped in the circular rim of the monastery, outside awaited a swarm of Oni. The feeling of helplessness surged through his body as he stood in front of the barricaded doors of the monastery. His heart leaped at every bang from the Oni striking down the doors. The door wouldn't hold forever. With every bang on the door, Lloyd knew their time was slowly dwindling out. Jay's words rang in his head,

"There may not be another time." 

There was chance Jay was right and that scared him. These creatures were powerful and were out to kill them. They had barely managed to subdue them long enough to get in the monastery. Their chances of surviving were closer to zero. Despite the statistics and the gut-wrenching fear, Lloyd kept a brave face. He still held on to some hope that they would all get out of this alive. 

They would find a way out. He knew they would. He just needed to find a course of action. He scanned the surrounding area and tried not to look up at the tentacles of darkness creeping above the monastery walls. They needed something to counter the darkness, they needed the thing that opposed destruction.

 **Creation**.

A voice rang out in his head. His eyes landed on wall before him and he smiled in revelation. They needed the Tornado of Creation. It was the only way they could defeat the Oni. Everyone was needed or wouldn't world. Something within in his gut assured him it work. A small pulse, but it was there. Besides what did they have to lose. Lloyd spun creating his own tornado and he could hear the others doing the same. One by one he felt their tornadoes combine, connecting their elements together and forming the Tornado Of Creation.

Lloyd felt the power of his teammates' elements whiz around him. The whirring sound of the Tornado became deafening as it grew in size. The sensation of power and security came to abrupt halt as Lloyd felt himself being flung away. The last thing he heard was a loud thud as the light of the Tornado slipped away and darkness crowded his vision. 

* * *

Lloyd jolted up with a spurting cough. He opened his eyes and frantically scanned around his surroundings. The landscape was unfamiliar with a blue and black sky, signifying night. Stars and puffy clouds littered the sky running down for miles, or as far as Lloyd could see. The ground was covered with a thin layer of water, which lapped against his body.

"Where am I?" Lloyd's voice rang out as barely audible whisper. Ahead of him, Lloyd could detect no signs of life. Despite the beautiful area, only Lloyd seemed to occupy it. He was in some sort of void. Lloyd stood up from the ground, and dusted off his body. Surprisingly, Lloyd's clothes weren't drenched with water from the ground. He looked down at floor as the water continued to lap at his shoes. This place was strange and the silencing was quickly becoming deafening. 

Lloyd turned around and was met with another stunning sight. Another realm implanted next to the void, a paper-tear like border separating it from the void. The land was filled beautiful grasslands that stretched on for miles, large floating islands and white puffy clouds graced the lands gorgeous blue sky. Lloyd stood awestricken at the realm that laid a few feet ahead of him. Lloyd was wary of this new landscape, but he needed to get out of here and find his team. They needed him. 

Pushing down his wariness, Lloyd determinedly walked over towards the grassland rift. As he neared the new landscape, Lloyd a green colored spark began manifesting at the border of the realms. Lloyd stopped and took on a defensive position. He watched in awe as the spark whirred into a ball of energy and began shaping itself into a larger figure. Large wings and tail became visible, as a dragon revealed itself to Lloyd. It's greens scales, red eyes, and yellow tendrils that branched from its face reminded Lloyd all to well of his Energy Dragon from long ago. 

"Hello?" Lloyd called warily. The dragon grunted and looked down at Lloyd from afar. The differences in their sizes were easily noticeable, and Lloyd was clear on the dragon's motives.

"I need your help." He said. The dragon cocked its head at Lloyd and continued to stare down at him. 

"I need to find my friends. We were attacked!" Lloyd pressed on.

He got no response from the dragon.

Lloyd balled his fists up in frustration. "They need my help!" 

The dragon continued to stare down at him. His growing desperation to find his family was beginning to deplete his patience. 

"I need to go back!" He yelled.

Soundlessly, the dragon stalked over to Lloyd. It's piercing red gaze never left Lloyd's. A wave of nervous crept down Lloyd's spine as the dragon slowly made its way over. 

"D-did you bring me here?" He asked the dragon. He got know response, other than dragon moving closer towards. His heartbeat began to pick up speed as Lloyd began to tense up.

"Can't you take me back?" Lloyd hated how desperate he sounded. The dragon's piercing stare filled him with dread, and every step brought it an inch closer to him. 

"Are you listening to me!" He screamed at the dragon as adrenaline began to rush through his blood. The dragon stopped right in front of him. Its large, intimidating figure loomed over him as its red eyes burned into his skull. Lloyd gulp and felt a sense of terror wash over him. But he was desperate to get out and with a weak voice he said,

"Please!"

A low gurgling noise came from the dragon as it soften its stance, ever so slightly. It lowered its head down to meet Lloyd's level as it gazed at him. Hope began to rise up in Lloyd, despite its gaze not revealing any emotion. He could only hope it would help.

"I need to go back to them." He begged the dragon. 

" **Your time here is up.** " It spoke in an almost hypnotic voice, that echoed across the void.

"W-what do you mean?"

The dragon didn't respond, instead Lloyd was pulled down by an invisible force under the void's floor of water. Lloyd let out a strangled yell as the green dragon slowly became a speck in the darkness.

* * *

Lloyd woke up with a gasp. His breath was ragged and his body was trembling, he was sweating profusely. _Where was he?_ It wasn't night, there weren't any stars or clouds in the sky, the ground was coated with water, and there was no dragon. Instead he found himself enclosed in some type of room, he could make out wooden columns and little dragon markings imprinted on the walls. Other structures were outlined in the...sunlight? There was a window, the sunlight was peaking through the curtains. _It's...morning?_ The light that slipped through his window, illuminated the room. He was in...a bed? His bed.

He was in his room. He was in his bed. He was safe. There were no dragons, there wasn't some weird unearthly realm, there wasn't any Oni creatures out to kill him, he wasn't in any real danger. Lloyd took deep breaths and waited for his breathing to settle. It was all a dream. Nothing was here to hurt him. Ninjago was at peace. The darkness was gone and it was never coming back. Not after...

Lloyd shakily got of bed, as he slowly came to his senses. His feet made contact with something soft. He looked down and was met with the sight of his green rug. He peered over at the edges of his room, there was only wooden flooring. There was no water to be detected. Lloyd stood up fully and slowly dragged his feet towards the door. His hands made contact with the translucent sheets on the lattice frame. Lloyd slide the door over to the side. The door let out a quiet groan as it brushed against the floor. It fell into a silence as the door came to halt. 

Lloyd quickly shuffled through the hall and slipped into the bathroom. Once inside, he locked the door to the bathroom and slouched over the sink. He took deep breaths breaths in an attempt to soothe his nerves. Lloyd turned the knob on the sink and watched as water ran from the faucet. To his despair, the sound of water was doing the opposite in calming his nerves. He tried his best to ignore the vivid details from his dream.

"It's was just a dream." Lloyd said a shakily. "It wasn't real."

If that was true, why did he feel so shaken? Why did he feel off? With a muffled grunt, Lloyd cupped his hands under the faucet and splashed himself with water. He needed to get a grip. With a sigh Lloyd grabbed a nearby towel and dried his face off. He looked up and gazed at himself in the mirror. He frowned at the image. Despite the exhaustion that was painfully present in his features, Lloyd noticed something else.

He looked different. Little details he was able to decipher from his dream. Details that shouldn't be relevant to any other person but, it was noticed by him.His hair was longer and straighter in his dream, unlike now which his hairstyle was currently tousled, his eyebrows were slightly thicker, and Lloyd could've sworn he was taller. The more Lloyd tried to remember about his dream, the more he seemed to forgot. There was so much going on in his dream, so much to decipher. Lloyd took a deep breath to clear his head. Whatever that dream was, it wasn't important. 

Lloyd stood up straight and neatly set the towel back on the rack. He looked back at the mirror and gaze at his reflection one last time before unlocking the the door and exiting the bathroom. One of the first things Lloyd noticed was the alluring smell of food and the clattering noises of pans and silver-ware knocking against one another. His disorientation must've caused him to miss this from earlier. A growl from his stomach reminded Lloyd how hungry he actually was.

Lloyd casually walked over to the staircase and trotted down the stairs. The smell of whatever was being cooked was enough to make Lloyd drool. Luckily, Lloyd had self-control and he did not drool! As Lloyd's feet hit the bottom floor, Lloyd sauntered through the hallway. He rounded a corner and entered another part of the hallway, up ahead he could see the frame to the kitchen. From where he currently stood, Lloyd could visible outline the kichen's island's. A sizzling sound was made prominent to Lloyd as he neared the frame. As he walked towards the kitchen, a loud creak emitted from floor.

"Lloyd?" A voice called out. "Is that you."

"Yeah mom." Lloyd called back. "It's just me."

"Come over here and help me with breakfast, why don't you?"

A smile graced his lips as he maneuvered his way into the kitchen. He peaked around the corner of the frame and looked around for his mother. When he didn't find her right away, Lloyd fully breached the kitchen. He could see a few dishes in the sink that was implanted on the kitchen's island. Movement caught his attention and Lloyd looked up at a figure in the distance.

"Mom?" He called.

"Yes. Over here honey."

Reassured, Lloyd stepped closer to his mother as she finished cooking breakfast.

"You slept in quite late." She said without turning to face him. Despite this, Lloyd could clearly hear her singsong voice. 

"Uh yeah." Lloyd said, rubbing his neck sheepishly. "Weird dream, that's all."

"Are you okay, honey?" She asked. Her work came to a halt as she turned to face Lloyd.

Lloyd found himself freezing for a brief moment as he examined his mother. Orangish brown hair was tied into a neat ponytail, she wore a green shirt with pale brown pants. Her dark eyes stared back him, laced with concern. She looked young. Well younger. It was odd why this would catch him off guard. He didn't even know the reason why it caught him off guard. It's not like age wasn't present, she had a few strand of grey hair entwined in her hair and and her face wasn't not laced with age. Hmm strange.

"Lloyd?" Her voice was laced with worry and Lloyd was pulled back into reality. 

"Yeah? Oh. Sorry mom." Lloyd said sheepishly. "Just spaced out."

She frowned at him. Her eyes examined him closely and Lloyd felt himself shift uncomfortably under her gaze.

"It was just a rough night." He finally caved in. "That's all."

Her eyes soften and she quickly embraced him in a hug. She pressed her lips against his forehead and gave him a quick squeeze before pulling them apart.

"I know you're going through hard time right now with...everything that's happened." She let out a sigh and looked him in the eye. "It's going to get better, Lloyd."

Lloyd nodded and smiled at his mother. "Thanks mom."

She smiled at him and gave his arm a final squeeze, "Breakfast is almost done."

"Oh right! You needed help?"

"I'm okay, sweetie. Why don't you go get your father."

"My father?" Lloyd didn't like the uncertainty laced within his voice.

"Yes. He should be in the front of the monastery." His mother said. "If not check the dojo, he may be meditating there.."

"Oh okay." With that, Lloyd departed from the kitchen.

* * *

There was this strange feeling Lloyd couldn't quite decipher as he walked down the Monastery's halls and towards the front doors. An uncanny feeling that grew in size as he stepped closer to his destination. Lloyd could very well write the feeling off as nervousness, but he had nothing to be nervous about. He couldn't quite put a finger on what was wrong. Apart of him was beginning to think he was growing sick. Sure he hadn't been feeling the best emotionally for the past few days but, physically he felt fine. He just didn't know what was going on.

Lloyd broke out of his daze when he arrived at the front doors. For a few seconds Lloyd stood there, hesitating. He didn't understand why he was hesitating but he did know there was this undetectable feeling bubbling up inside him. An invisible force holding him in place and causing uncertainty within Lloyd. Lloyd gritted his teeth and forcefully pushed down these fillings. There was no reason for him to be acting like this. He shouldn't have to hesitate in his own house.

Lloyd pushed open the doors, with more force than necessary. Lloyd winced as the doors swung away from their place in the frame and slammed in the walls beside them. If his father was out here, he definitely heard. That feeling returned at the thought of his father. Lloyd let out an irritated growl. What's wrong with him? He's acting stupid! In an act of defiance, Lloyd marched out of the monastery and deliberately ignored whatever emotions were spiraling within his stomach. He glanced around the front yard of the monastery. The plain dirt floor revealed no sign of his father.

"He must be in dojo." Lloyd sighed to himself. He looked up at the village that neighbored around the Monastery. It was small in size but it was an undeniably beautiful village. Surrounded by large trees and vibrant grass...yeah this place was pretty. Lloyd gave the village once last look before retreating back into the monastery. This time he made sure to close the doors with less force than earlier. He needed to have composure, he was the green ninja after all. It was off to the dojo, the only place his father could possibly be.

As Lloyd navigated the halls of the monastery towards the dojo, Lloyd couldn't help but notice those same feelings from creeping back up. Despite his efforts to push them down, they were very prevalent to him. Lloyd physically shook himself before into the dojo. He stood in the open space of the dojo, the walls were covered in the same material as the door to his room. Candles lit the dojo's space, leaving a dimmer setting than normal lights would provide. Little paintings were plastered against the wall of the dojo. 

The dojo was usually a place of tranquility when students weren't occupying it. Lloyd was feeling everything but tranquility. He felt extremely skittish and he found himself eyeing the shadows in the corner of the room. He was painfully aware of his surroundings. It was like he was expecting something to leap out and attack him. The silence seemed to spike his nerves further, causing Lloyd to tense up. Something wasn't right.

"Dad!" He called. "Where are you?"

For a few nerve-wracking seconds there was silence. Then Lloyd noticed movement to the left of him and whipped his head around. There was a figure illuminated in the translucent sheets of the dojo's wall. Four arms. There was four arms present on this shadow's figure. Lloyd found himself glued to floor and his heart rate picked up speed. A overwhelming feeling of dread washed over Lloyd. The walls were closing in, the world was changing.

''What's happening?!'

_The dojo was gone, replaced with a dim dome like room. Prison cells lined the walls. Every cell was empty. No one was there. And yet he knew he wasn't completely alone._

_'Where am I?'_

_There was no answer._

_There was a bang. The door closed! He was trapped! Something was nearby. Something was in here with him. He heard it. It was grunting. It was getting closer. He whirled around, frantically checking his surroundings. He needed to get out of here! His body wasn't moving!_

_'Who's there?'_

_"Show yourself-"_

_The voice caught him off guard. It sounded as if the voice resonated from. That couldn't be possible though, his voice wasn't that deep. What is it saying? He missed the last part._

_'Hello?'_

_His voice fell deaf on whoever's ears._

_Without his authority, Lloyd felt his body tense up and green energy form in the palms of his hands. He looked in awe at the misty form the energy took on. It was spectacular from his plain energy ball he could currently wield._

_"What is this?"_

_There was something to his left. Heavy footsteps came from a hole in the wall. A figure was coming towards him, a dark figure that struck away his awe and filled him with fear. . Red eyes gleamed menacingly Four arms were present._

_"Dad?!"_

_His shriek had gone unnoticed and Lloyd was spiraling into a frenzy._

_"What happened?!"_

_"Why do you have four arms again?!"_

_"Why do you look so different?!"_

_"So...menacing?!"_

_He wasn't answered_

_Garmadon was talking. Lloyd couldn't hear what he said. A vibration rumble through his throat. He had said something, he couldn't hear it but he knew it._

_"Why can't I hear you?!"_

_Garmadon lunged at him and Lloyd felt his gut sink. He didn't understand. Why was he attacking him? Where they fighting? Why were the fighting? They shouldn't be fighting each other!_

_"Stop!"_

_They didn't acknowledge him._

_They were talking to each other again. He couldn't hear anything. Why couldn't he hear anything?! He was growing frustrated._

_'-new me!'_

_He was able to make out that from his father. He didn't understand what was happening or why it was happening. What did his father mean?_

_"What are you talking about!"_

_They kept fighting. Why wasn't Garmadon listening? Why couldn't he take control of his body? What's controlling him?! Purple light glowed from Garmadon's hands, purple energy that had a form more similar to his now._

_"You have powers?!"_

_'You have powers?!'_

_Lloyd was overwhelmed with astonishment. His dad had powers! Why was he just seeing it? He needed to find out what's happening and end this fight, quickly! Lloyd was painfully aware that he still had no control over his body. He knew that he and the entity in control of him spoke the same thoughts rather than him gaining control enough to voice his actual thoughts._

_Lloyd tried jerking his body to the left. His motion was denied as his body swiftly dodged the purple energy blasts his father sent his way._

_"Stop fighting!"_

_He screamed._

_He request was denied as his body landed a few behind Garmadon. The vibration returned, he was talking again. He till couldn't hear what was being said! Whatever he said gravely provoked Garmadon. His father balled up his four fist and screamed at him. He could barely make out the words 'nothing' and 'save'._

_He didn't understand what was fully going on but Lloyd knew that whatever was controlling him, was not helping!_

_"Get out of my body!"_

_He demanded._

_"You're making this worse!"_

_Garmadon charged at him and his body rolled to the ground in a swift dodge. His head whipped back and Lloyd witnessed Garmadon delivering a devastating punch to a pillar. The once sturdy column now had a gaping hole in it. Fear crept up Lloyd's spine as Garmadon stood up menacingly and glared at him. He was talking again, Lloyd couldn't decipher any of his words. Lloyd watched in horror as Garmadon charged up his purple energy and fired._

_1 shot._

_2 shots._

_With each impact of the energy, a familiar feeling was returning to Lloyd. He was feeling fear. He was afraid of Garmadon. He was afraid of his father. Never in all his life had he left afraid of his father, no even during the Final Battle. He wasn't afraid then because his father was corrupted by the Overlord. He wasn't afraid before the Final Battle when his father still had four arms. Even while corrupted with the Devouror's venom, Garmadon had never tried to intentionally hurt Lloyd. That was until now. He was witnessing it._

_Garmadon charged up another attack and Lloyd watched as his body shot up the green energy in retaliation. The green energy quickly dissipated as soon as it made contact his father's. His energy was powerful!_

_Garmadon fired another shot. He said something inaudible and fired another energy blast._

_4 shots made impact with him_

_5 shots._

_6 shots._

_7 shots._

_The 8th shot missed._

_The 9th one didn't._

_He was cornered and all the while Garmadon kept firing, he kept speaking. And Lloyd still couldn't understand what he was saying. Lloyd didn't know what was worse. The overwhelming fear that rushed through his blood or the heart-wrenching pain that dug it's way into his chest and latched onto him._

_"D-dad."_

_His voice was weak._

_His father kept stalking forward and kept talking. His body jolted up and ran off and for once Lloyd didn't protest with whatever was controlling him. Lloyd could hear the blasts of energy before he felt it. For a brief moment his vision blurred in a fit of motions. He knew he was locked in combat with his father but the pain laced within his chest was clouding his vision._

_He was aware of himself talking but Lloyd was finding himself uninterested in what they were talking about. He was too confused, too panicked, too scared. He wanted it to stop, he needed to stop but he couldn't make it stop! He was losing to his father, and memories of his first fight from the Overlord were coming back to him. His breathing was escalating and it felt as if he was drowning. He couldn't get air._

_His vision began to clear and Lloyd wished it didn't. He found himself dangling from the ground, with Garmadon's hand wrapped tightly around him. His voice was devoid of the love and care Lloyd was so used to. Garmadon glared at him with hatred. For the first time in a while, Lloyd heard them speak._

_'-Your son."_

_That was from him._

_Garmadon's face curled in a nasty way that sent dread rolling down spine. It hadn't occurred to him that his father could be so cruel. It hadn't occurred to him that he could fear his father so much. His father voice dripped with venom as he spoke,_

**_"Ï̴̧͈̖̥̬̋͠ ̶̛͕̫͇͉͇͋ḩ̵̲̗̃̍̈́͋̂̋͌a̸͉͛̂̀̍͘͝v̷̮̻̪̬͂e̷̜̲̽̄̈́̑ ̷̨̣̫̣̘̪̓͊̓͆n̷̯̰͙ő̶̯ ̵̝͝s̸̰̯̫̍̐̄͒ͅö̷̜̪̳͓́̋̾̑̃̎ņ̷̟̬̘̞̙͊͌̇͊"_ **

**_"̸͓̘̇̒͂͊̕͘͝ͅh̶̞̣̪͋ȧ̸̪̊̋̑͆͝v̵̜̻̬̝̻̄̈͌͑̏͝͠ͅͅẹ̷̱̓̾͒̇͝͝ ̵̼̖̰̼̠̋̄̿̂͝n̵̲͙̲̦̺̟͂͆͐͘͜o̵̖̒̎̔͘͜ ̶̥͌s̶̢̼͖̖͉͖͌̾o̶͚̪̱̤̼͑̒̑̈́̚n̴̢͙͈̲̻̐̚"_ **

**_"̵̤͔̼͑̈́̍͌̾̈́n̵̢̳̞̆̈͒́ơ̷̘͉̩͆̃̅͑͋̀ ̶̛̲͕̪̹͠s̵̗̫̹͍̏̊̐̊͋̆̏ȍ̵̻͈͔͕̄̔͆n̸̡̈̄̐̊̇̕͠ͅ"_ **

**_"̷͚̯̫̖̪̓n̴̤̟̿̕ͅo̷̡̭͉̱̐̋̏̂̔̋͠ͅ ̶̝̱͇̝̱͙͊̊̊̍̕̚͝s̷̢̗͚̉͒͊̄̏͘͜͜o̶̗̳̲͈͇͉͛̍̆͌̆͜͠n̶̢̝͑̌̈̇͝ ̴̨͕͓̫̖̤͙̉͆̎"_ **

**_̴͓̠͉̲̍̓͌̚͜"Ṉ̷̙̾̋Ơ̸̡͓͍͙͌͊ ̸̣̓̔̒̂Ş̴̥̩͇͇̜͆̏̾̍̋̑͝O̵̡̥̣̿̔̃N̴͇͖̲̩̖̱̖̏̈́"_ **

**_"̷̙͚̹̤͓͆͐̈̈́̑̾̎S̴̥̦̣͊Ṏ̴̡͔̣͖̻́̉̽̑N̶͉̳̻̣͖̳̣̔̈̃̆̍̕"_ **

**_"̴̨̝̠̫̱̮̏̒́͘͘S̴̺̟̰̘̘̄͐̋̆Ȏ̴͓̦͎̫̞̤̰N̶̯̣͒̿̿͛̇̂̌"_ **

_.̵̫͈͙ͅ.̷̪̩̳̲̿̾.̷͓̒̈̿̚.̶̹͕̜͓̀.̶͍̖͋̄̇͐̏͝͝.̵̧̢̲͚̹͍͂́͋̽̚͝.̸͍̥̲̲̤̜̐͆̓̉͗_

_̷̨̱̫͉͈̫͛͌̋̈́̓͊͜.̶̗̜̖̇̋̏̌͐͠.̷͔͍̗̊̇.̶̺̝̑̂̿̌̕͝ͅ.̵̖̱̬̮̦͛_

_̸̖̞̐̌̚͝.̷̜̣̫̣̅̊͌̈͋.̴̨̫̄͜_

_̸̞́.̵̧̫̞͔͚͇̔̀_

_̷͇̲̘̹̈̂̏_

_̶̼̭̟͎͎̔͝.̵̼̔͑̃͛_

_̶̨͍̪̠̔́͆.̸̟̱͆̈́͊_

_̷̨̢͈̈́.̶̧̤͚̪̘̏́̋̚.̴͈̻̼͊̔́̏ͅͅ_

_̸̻̝͂̒̕͜͝͝.̶̨̝̲̫̿̏̽̇_

**"Son?!"**

"Snap out of it!"

Lloyd was being shaken. The prison was fading and the walls of the dojo were returning. And yet Lloyd couldn't shake that lingering sense of fear. The grey walls, the empty cells, the sounds of him fighting his father...oh his father. The corruption that Lloyd had cured with his golden powers, was renovated. To see his father brimming with the Devouror's venom gave Lloyd a feeling that surpassed any sorrow he felt before. But to see his father devoid of the love and care he was so used to...it caused something in him to break.

Lloyd clamped his eyes shut. The feeling of misery, hopelessness, and fear washed over him as the scene began to rewind in his head. Over and over and over again. He could tell himself all he wanted, 'none of this was real.' But some part of him told him otherwise. It was too vivid, too real! He could feel every hit that was fired his way. The purple energy and his father's menacing glare was burned into his head. How his father fired at him without mercy...Lloyd's throat began to tightened and his breathing became labored. He was overstimulated. It was all to much.

He felt like he was sinking. Spiraling further and further down a dark hole. He couldn't comprehend why this was happening. What happened to get to that point? Why was his father corrupted again? Why were they fighting? Lloyd felt anger begin to bubble up inside him. It seemed as if the world was destined to have them fight one another! He just got his father back, he had finally obtained peace! So why was seeing them fight!? Why was he seeing all the progress reversed! He didn't want fight his father again. It wasn't fair!

Beneath the anger, Lloyd felt helpless. He had already lost his team. He didn't want to lose the rest of hi family as well. His emotions swirled around him like a raging hurricane, breaking his sense of reality and tearing away at his sanity. Before his thoughts could spiral into something worse, a voice called out to him.

"Son?"

His inner turmoil came to a halt for brief second as Lloyd blinked open his eyes. Through his blurry vision Lloyd could distinguished a large figure kneeled in front of him. It was at this point Lloyd noted he wasn't standing anymore. He was kneeled on ground. It took him a minute to recognize it was the floor of the dojo. 

"Lloyd, are you alright?"

Blinking back tears, Lloyd timidly tilted his head up and saw the soft fabric of a familiar black kimono. Someone was sitting in front of him. Shakily, Lloyd brought himself to look up the person's full length. As Lloyd's eyes trailed up the person's figure, Lloyd felt his breath hitch as his eyes met the other's face.

"D-dad?" Lloyd's voice wavered with uncertainly. He stared at man in front of him. Grey hair rested on top of his head, combed in a neat tousled-like style. Lloyd noticed that the man before him did not have a towering horned helmet situated on his. He wore a black kimono with a grey overcoat and golden accents designed into the fabric. He wasn't wearing black samurai armor. There was no crack present on the left side of his chest. There was no purple ooze leaking ominously out of his exposed rib cage.

"Its me, son." The man said in a gentle voice. "Are you okay.?

It had dawned on Lloyd that corrupted being he saw earlier was not his father. The man in front of him was. This man wasn't corrupted with the venom of the Great Devourer. His face was simply lined with age. His eyes weren't red, they didn't shine with hatred or destruction. His eyes were painted a pristine black that swelled with love and concern. No. That monster was not his father. This man was his father! This man who called him son, who loved him endlessly. Who held him securely and attempted comfort him. This man would never hurt. 

The realization caused a wave of emotions to flow through Lloyd as he hurled himself at his father. Hugging him tightly and squeezing his eyes shut. His body began to tremble as tears began to build in his eyes.

"Dad!" He said with a choked sob. 

"It's alright, son." His father said in a gentle voice. "I'm here. You're safe."

Safe. He was safe here. There was no reason to fear. Lloyd leaned into his father's embrace as his father began to comb through his hair, comfortingly. It was at this point, Lloyd had broken out into an uncontrollable fit of sobs and tears. Lloyd squeezed his father tighter as his breath grew ragged. 

"Breath Lloyd." His father said, quietly shushing him. "In and out, son."

Following his father lead, he took a breath in and took a breath out. The two repeated the process until Lloyd's breath grew steady and his eyes dried. Despite his growing exhaustion, Lloyd did not release his grip from his father and his father did not stop rubbing soothing circles into his back. For a while they stayed like that, no sound except for the little sniffles that escaped from Lloyd.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for making this far. Please comment your thoughts and do inform me of any grammatical issues. I'm planning to make this a longer story and I'll try to commit to it.


End file.
